Excuse the Intermission
Alex, Erica and Max take you on a journey through film with this discussion podcast about movies.
Excuse the Intermission
ETI's review of F1: Featuring Director Marcus Baker
When the throttle opens and Led Zeppelin's iconic riffs fill the theater, you know you're in for something special. F1 roars onto the screen with the perfect fusion of high-stakes racing drama and human storytelling that makes your heart race as fast as the cars themselves.
Brad Pitt delivers one of his most compelling performances in years as Sonny Hayes, a former champion dragging the weight of past failures behind him like a parachute. What makes this performance remarkable isn't just Pitt's natural charisma, but his willingness to embrace vulnerability and aging on screen. We see him dunking his face in ice water before races, collapsing in exhaustion afterward, and bearing the physical and emotional scars of a brutal career. It's a masterclass in portraying the cost of greatness.
Director Joseph Kosinski brings the same technical innovation that made Top Gun: Maverick soar, putting viewers directly into the cockpit with brilliant camera work that captures both the speed and precision of Formula One racing. With Hans Zimmer's pulse-pounding score amplifying every moment and real F1 events as backdrops, the film achieves an authenticity that racing fans will appreciate while remaining accessible to newcomers. The supporting cast shines equally bright, with Damson Idris as a hotshot rookie, Javier Bardem as a visionary team owner, and Kerry Condon delivering a steely, scene-stealing performance as the team principal.
What elevates F1 beyond mere spectacle is its understanding that great sports films are fundamentally about craft – the difference between raw talent and refined skill, between ambition and wisdom. As Sonny mentors his young teammate through the intricacies of racing lines and split-second decisions, we're treated to a story about redemption that never feels formulaic despite following classic sports movie contours. When someone says "he's flying" in the film's climactic moments, you'll feel it too – both in the exhilaration of the race and the emotional journey that makes this more than just another movie about going fast.
How's it? I'm Alex McCauley.
Speaker 2:I'm Max.
Speaker 1:Vosburgh, and this is Excuse the Intermission a discussion show surrounding things that go fast. F1 is the latest summer blockbuster in entertaining not only Formula One fans but moviegoers of all kinds. Joining us to speak about the film is our good buddy, Marcus Baker, who will also be participating in a sports movie character hall of fame ceremony with us An exciting episode that gets started on the other side of this break. All right, Marcus, welcome back to the show. This is one that we've had circled on our collective calendars for a long time. So how are you doing today? What's going on with you?
Speaker 3:yeah, no, I'm good, uh, things are good over here. Things are uh uh busy as ever with the seattle film society and with my own projects and you know all all sorts of stuff going on. Um, so lots uh lots to catch up on and I'm excited to get into it with uh, with you guys on f1 and as well as a couple other, some couple other points on some of your recent episodes.
Speaker 1:See, this is why when Marcus comes on and when any of our good friends come on for a guest spot, it's really fun, because I don't even have to really worry about writing an outline or sending anything to to Max before we go live, because I know the conversation is just going to flow. We're going to get called out on some stuff. You always bring the hot takes. Max and I were talking about this earlier this morning.
Speaker 2:Um, so yeah, I'm pumped Max.
Speaker 1:how are you doing?
Speaker 2:Uh, I'm I'm doing well, Got a nice little weekend break, uh, from uh, the feature I'm working on and, um, yeah, man, just, uh, just enjoying my time at the movie theater. Once again, Another weekend at the movie theater.
Speaker 1:Love to be there. Yeah, this is not only because of F1, but Megan 2.0 came out this week and now that movie is severely underperforming, especially in comparison to the original. But it is fun performing, especially in comparison to the original, but it is fun we. We do have a calendar chock full of pretty major studio releases happening over the next month. I would say really, um so, so good times, good times to be at the theater for sure. Let's get into f1. F1, the movie, this, this movie, I feel like, is coming at the perfect time, right, because F1 has gained enormous popularity, I would say, within the last two years really. And so, coming into this film, let's just kind of talk about where we were with the sport of Formula 1 racing. Marcus, we'll start with you. Was it anything to do with the actual F1 circuit itself that had you excited for this film, or was it more so all of the parts that come together to make the movie?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I'm I actually don't follow F1 at all. I had known that like there was a big boom in popularity and it was really interesting watching the movie. Because it was clear that like there were some people who were in my theater because I went to a sold-out screening on friday. Um, there were some people in my audience that had been drawn in by kind of that netflix show I think it's drive to survive and all that kind of stuff. Um, because there were like cheers when like certain people would come on screen and I would look down the aisle and I'd be like, oh, I don't know who this guy is, but most people must love this guy. Uh, so he must be like a big figure at f1. Um, so I I I knew very little about f1. Uh, going into this outside of you know it's racing and lew and Lewis Hamilton and all this kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:I'm a big sports film aficionado so like I make it a priority to try and see a sports film when they're out in theaters and try and support the genre.
Speaker 3:So that was a lot of what drew me in. Also, I mean obviously you know Brad Pitt, jessica Kaczynski with Top Gun, maververick, um, and I mean, all those kind of parts like are really what drew me to seeing the film, um, and also it just looked like I, those trailers are so great, they're so like adrenaline pumping and they really like draw you in and they really sell you on the story, which is, you know, I'm I'm a sucker for um, you know, a washed up, a washed up driver like, or a washed up like sports figure trying to make good like. I love that stuff, um, so that was really what a lot of drew me. That was a lot of what had drawn me in to see, uh, this film, uh, but I, I really was unfamiliar with f1 and we'll kind of get into that a bit more, as as we're kind of talking about the film, How'd you come into it, max?
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, I, I think I've watched one F1 race, my in my life. Um, and you know, alex, you and I, we, we have a couple of you decided not for me.
Speaker 2:Well, I, you know, I it's really early in the morning, uh, which is not really a problem, but uh, but then you got to find it on a channel. It's just another thing to watch. I don't know I, I've never been a huge motor sports person in general. Um, you know, alex and I we have a couple of buddies, I think of Byron Poland, uh, who's been on some podcasts on on the network, and Blaine Glasgow, who's been on this podcast, um, who are just huge F1 like diehards.
Speaker 1:Um so I kinda in, in in Blaine's world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I, I just kind of live vicariously through them, uh, with F1. Um, and you know I know some of the. You know I know who Lewis I think it's Lewis Hamilton, who is also a producer on this film. He is the guy who like stares down JP towards during the last race or whatever. I know there's also a guy who drives for, I think, red Bull named Max, and you know I always keep tabs on, tabs on on other maxes.
Speaker 2:So uh, yeah, yeah yeah, we see each other at the monthly meetings, but other than that, uh, yeah, you know I, I know it's a huge thing. You know I've I've never watched the drive to survive. Um, like I said, I think I've watched one race before, um, and, yeah, I, I was. I was pretty, pretty new to it. Uh, as far as as where my experience level, uh, with the actual sport is, I was.
Speaker 1:I was in the same boat as the two of you, but I like that coming into, coming into really any movie that I feel like might that is trying to show us like a peek behind the curtain. We always say when we're watching movies, like I want to try to learn something, if I feel like there's an emphasis on an, on a specific area of focus. And I came out of this movie feeling like I do know more about the world of F1 racing now and so right there I'm like okay, mission accomplished. Like I feel like this. This film was made with a lot of intent and a lot of knowledge surrounding its subject. I think having someone like Lewis Hamilton on as a producer helps a lot. So, uh, as someone who is completely green coming into it, um, I, I feel like and I've seen a lot of people's letterbox reviews that are near the top of the page say like well, I guess I need to get into F1 racing now because this movie really sells the sport, which I think is really cool.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we'll kind of go over a few of the news bulletins here. To begin with. We are recording this on Sunday morning, so official box office numbers I don't believe have been reported. They may be getting reported like as we speak right now.
Speaker 1:I did see that it was projected to land somewhere around 60 million I think was like the high-end cap for domestic and perhaps crack 100 million worldwide at, uh, the box office. So that would be a really strong opening for the film. It obviously is starring. It stars brad pitt and then, uh, you have joseph uh kaczynski behind the camera, which, which Top Gun Maverick, as Marcus already pointed out, you see a lot of the filmmaking, um techniques as far as like GoPro cameras that we saw in Top Gun Maverick used here in F1, the movie. So a lot of cool craftsmanship that went in to this film.
Speaker 1:And then the supporting cast aside from, like, carrie Condon, who I think has been in a few other notable projects before, is really in. Javier Bardem is really made up of relatively fresh faces, which I love in a sports movie. Again, it doesn't take you out of the film when you see like, oh, the team doctor is James Woods Like I can't take this guy serious, you know, so I love that about it. Team's, the team doctor is james woods like I can't take this guy serious, you know so, so I loved that about it. What did you guys make of kind of some of the the lead performances in in the choices that were made in putting this film together?
Speaker 3:I mean I, I I'm always kind of fascinated by the way that brad pitt is used in films because he's I mean, he, you know he looks like brad pitt, but he's kind of he's always kind of better when he's off ball, when he's kind of playing more of a character actor, um, when he's kind of playing like off center to a george clooney in those oceans movies, those kinds of things, um, or to like he wins his academy award for as a supporting actor, yeah, and it's the same thing for, like even fight club, where like he's playing supporting to Ed Norton, but like what everyone remembers is Brad Pitt like leaning back and his abs are like glistening. That inspires, you know, a generation of people to work out.
Speaker 1:I say the same about Seven as well. Exactly he's supporting the Morgan Freeman character, but he's probably the more memorable role in that film.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and and I mean you can 12 monkeys, all those kinds of things where I think he's kind of off center and so I think, like this film it's interesting because he is kind of like guiding the ensemble, but he does have a lot of like interesting pieces around him, obviously, with javier bardem bardem's giving a great performance. Carrie condon is lights out in this movie. She's so good and I was so excited to see her show up in this after, um, uh, banshees venezuelan, which is, like you know, such a different, but she's still like steely and, like you know, she's still like very capable in the same way she is in that movie. So in in Damon Idris, I really I do really like he's got a. He's got more of an arc than I think just about anyone else in this movie.
Speaker 3:Most of this movie is Brad Pitt showing up and be like we should do it like this, and everyone's like no, we shouldn't. Oh wait, we should listen to this guy and like that's kind of the entire arc of the movie and I think, like, for what this movie is, it's, I think it's perfect. I mean, that's really what I said on my Letterboxd review is that it's no more and no less of exactly what you want it to be. And I mean that is a high compliment because, like so often, you go into a sports movie and like you don't get like the action you want or you don't get the melodrama you want, and this movie has the perfect balance of all of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I will. I will say Damson Idris is.
Speaker 3:Is that his?
Speaker 2:name. Yeah, I think he he is someone to watch. I was really impressed with him in this movie and you're going toe-to-toe with Brad Pitt who, you know, for the better part of the last 30 to 40 years, has been an A-list movie star and I thought he held his own really, really well. Uh, carrie Condon was great. I thought all the, all the people at the like, the little, like control center uh were really fun. The redheaded kid was was awesome. The, the other, uh, the, the, the, the older guy who's like the team captain. Um, I thought he had some really great moments. And then Javier Bardem Bardem. Javier Bardem right there.
Speaker 2:I mean this is the best I've seen him in a long time. We're not underwater as the king of Atlantis, we're not fucking doing other weird shit that we've been doing, we're just like in really nice suits we're.
Speaker 1:I wrote down in my notes here we've never really seen him in like an inspirational role, which I thought was just like a new look for him.
Speaker 2:It was really fun I, I thought he was perfectly cast and it's so funny that he and Brad are like. You know they're racing like constituents, right, but like he is off the track, right, and it's so interesting because they're pretty much the same age. Who knows, maybe in real life Brad might be even a little bit older, but, um, I thought also Tobias, uh, men Menzies, uh, who I always get mixed up with, patty Constantine, uh was really really great and like played the part of like some like weird tech billionaire, really really perfectly.
Speaker 3:Um, the guy with the incredible lines in his face, insane lines that go from, like his mouth up to his eyes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I thought he he did a good job, um, and then also the mother of of uh, jp, I thought she was great too. I everyone in this movie, I think, does exactly what they're supposed to do, uh, which is why it's such a just a. It feels like such a well crafted sports movie, and you need that in sports movies, right? Most sports movies are ensemble pieces and everyone plays a certain role.
Speaker 1:And I thought it was pretty flawless more and kind of get your read, both of your reads on, when you started to figure out what kind of arc his character was going to have, because the one thing that I at least did know about f1 racing is that you do have like a two-car team in formula one, and so you know that there's going to be this natural competition, obviously for the dramatics of the film. There's going to have to be a little rift between them at times. But, like I personally found myself very early on in the film thinking you know a little bit of it is archetype and just knowing how these films are going to play out, but also thinking I'm going to really like this character, I think, even if he turns heel, which he does at one moment um, there are other times in the film where you are supposed to feel for this character, and I really did so. I don't know where did you guys land as far as attaching yourself to his story.
Speaker 2:I mean he is the rooster, right, I mean he is the hotshot, the young hotshot. This movie is very much built exactly like Top Gun Maverick, like I mean from a structure perspective. And you know, maybe he's a mixture of Rooster and Glenn Powell's character right From Top Gun Maverick, and it's just a passing of the baton. And, yeah, the interesting thing about Formula One, which I was talking to Blaine about this this morning, is that even though you are a two-man team, your biggest competitor is your teammate, right, and so to have that dynamic and then I thought it worked really well and he does have the most complete arc out of anyone I feel like, right, he's, he's very cocky, he's very, uh, me, me, me and kind of over time, learns to, learns the way of the of the sensei from from, uh, brad Pitt's character, Sonny Hayes Throws the phone out, it's all, yeah, right, it's all. Noise, yeah, cash, I'm gonna need you to leave today yeah, that guy was really great too, that guy was hilarious when he's on the e like the e-scooter following him.
Speaker 3:He's like he's a saboteur well, yeah, and I mean I think it's it. It's definitely I gotta agree that it's built almost exactly a top gun maverick, except in sports cars. But it's also think it's definitely I got to agree that it's built almost exactly like Top Gun Maverick, except in sports cars. But it's also like it's doing like kind of a classic, like sports film thing of like the young hotshot has to learn craft essentially.
Speaker 3:I mean you think of like Bull Durham, where you know you got Nuke Lelouch and he's like he's got all the talent in the world but he has no craft and it's the same thing, color of money.
Speaker 3:Um, I think of one of my favorites, greatest game ever played. It's same deal. Shia labeouf has all the talent in the world but he's got no craft and it's it's. That's like kind of like. That's such a classic sports film thing of like the young guy who's good but he has to learn how to like wield it in the appropriate way. And I mean that's like, that's like the shit you sign up for with a sports movie. That's like why I go to sports films, because they are fundamentally films about craft. You know how a film, how most sports films are going to end usually. So it becomes about how they get there and becomes about the specificities of craft and how they gain that craft and how they learn those lessons and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:Um, and I think, like to me kaczynski is such a good director in how he shapes those moments. Um, certainly that that major car crash and all that kind of stuff, and like the way that like uh, what's his name? Idris damon, idris, damson, damson, yeah, the way that he like then goes back in the car and he's like replaying the moment over and over again and he's learning. Oh, if I had just followed the way that brad pitt told me to do this, then I would have like, then I would have won the race, and it's just like it's just about how tennis balls against the wall, yeah, exactly yeah, and it's.
Speaker 3:It's just like real simple old school craft stuff like that that I, that I love, like that's exactly why we go to sports films and to you know, you're going to get some big inspirational story about how they won the big race.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and in the montages which this film has, the, the signature training montages. I do want to talk about the pace of the film, because I found this really effective too. This might be the fastest no pun intended two hour and 30 minute movie I've ever watched. Uh, the pacing is just remarkable. Like the movie starts with a race. You know it's almost like when you're trying to build out a great drama in and people always say like you either start with a wedding or start with a funeral. You know, like a sports movie needs to start with the game, and so we get a race right away and then 20 later it's like we get another race. Brad Pitt's there and he's doing the test run, and then 20 minutes later we're at like our first Formula One race, and then there's just like a 20 minute break of melodrama, of training montages, and then another race. 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes. I was keeping track of it, so I thought the pacing was really, really effective. Effective in this. How did the movie feel to you guys in terms of length?
Speaker 3:I. I had some issues towards the end, because it does start to feel a little, a little long right at the end. Um, I will say this.
Speaker 1:I've written down in my notes also the las vegas crash scene with brad pitt.
Speaker 3:Stupid, yeah, I didn't necessarily feel like that needed to happen. I love the whole idea of him driving angry, but then you undercut the whole thing later with him, like with you know he's just gonna come back yeah yeah, you know he's gonna come back. I just didn't feel like you necessarily need it. Um, I understand, I understand why it's there from like, like a script perspective, but I don't think you need it I.
Speaker 1:I kind of don't like I. I hear what you're saying, but I also kind of don't like a. I think a smarter script choice would have been to just like sure, have them drive angry or something, but let's place, let's or p.
Speaker 3:They don't say place, let's go like let's p, p8 or p9 or something of that race you know, that would have been more surprising to me and not feel as tropey yeah, well, and also because you get the earlier crash, so like you lose the impact of a second crash, and so I think, like having him having his anger fail him would be a much more, uh, impactful way of approaching that story, um.
Speaker 3:but yeah, I mean I I think like, for me, like that part, that whole section, really doesn't need to be there or it could have been approached in a different way, that I would have made it more effective, um, because to me that really feels like a 20 minute detour that really drags down like the punch of the ending. I think this movie could probably lose those, that 20 minute section, and be fine. I wasn't mad about it, I just don't think it was super impactful.
Speaker 1:I will say this, and I want to get your thoughts on the pacing to Max, but that that Las Vegas crash too is coming off of some incredible stuff between Brad Pitt and Carrie Condon as well, and so we're like on a real high, and then I think that really brings the movie down.
Speaker 3:Yeah. The scene of her and Javier Bardem at the door is really fantastic.
Speaker 2:So good yeah, and it's something that she.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he's here, he's on the balcony. It's something that it's so cliche and it's such a funny little beat that you know they're going to hit it. But the way that she plays it is what sells the whole thing. She's just incredible in this movie.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I will say I'm getting a little tired of the false endings in Hollywood movies, like and you know the Baja stuff. I I don't need to know.
Speaker 2:I I don't need to know that, I know that's where he's going, I know that's why he's leaving the juice, we get it yeah, right and uh, um, but other than that, I mean, I I think this movie really needs to be considered for, like awards in editing, because the editing in this film, and it starts right off the bat when, after the nascar race, which also shout out shay wiggum for having a cup of coffee, I totally thought he was going to come back and and, like you know, yeah, being the pit crew, like I know how to be, I know how combat works, um, but uh, the editing in this coach, cause actually my dad knew you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, uh. So the when when Brad Pitt shows up to the F1 team, uh away, like it's him, I think, the old guy, carrie's character, Damson and Javier, and the editing there, it's like it's jumping all around and I noticed it right away, but like it's almost setting you up like this is how it's going to feel throughout the movie, like it's almost like in a style of of how they edit the race as well, um, and so I I just think I think a lot of the editing is is really fantastic, uh, and and even some like experimental stuff too, with like the found footage, uh, like a memory of of his his race 30 years ago, with like the crashing of the waves, uh, right at the beginning, I that was super interesting. I thought, uh, to open the film like that, Um?
Speaker 1:are you talking about my post-sex nightmare?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that too, yeah, yeah, yeah, the post-sex nightmare, which is insane. Uh, I, I did read your this is all my letterbox.
Speaker 1:Is that you know how tortured a man must be to have a post-sex nightmare? That is some of the most intense trauma.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah I mean I will say when you see him like laying on that track, like his leg is not turned the right way, not, that's like right. You see the scar on his back which, like I, was like I saw the movie with uh, previous eti guest, matt rush um and like, when you see the scar on his back, I, matt rush and I are like fist pumping, like hell yeah, he's fucking injured. He's gotta come back.
Speaker 1:He's a broken man.
Speaker 3:He's a broken man, yeah, and that's like again, that's the shit you sign up for, but he does not look good on. I mean, no one looks good in the middle of you know, having just had a major car accident, but he especially does not look good well, I love too that they, we, we get to see that too.
Speaker 1:Right like he is beat down and exhausted after every single race he has to retreat back to, like his green room, if you will, and basically collapse, um and can't participate in any post-race festivities.
Speaker 1:And then it's still even.
Speaker 1:You know that the nascar race that we get at the beginning or the stock car race with that porsche that's awesome looking porsche um is is really telling too right like that opening scene sets up his character really well, I think, and the movie honestly, because when you I know you guys pay attention to this stuff, but for anybody who doesn't really know, like when you hear a led zeppelin song in a film, the movie means business, because Led Zeppelin does not license their music for a lot of stuff and if they do, it's like a seven-figure amount.
Speaker 1:Usually that's like what the reports are. And so when the movie starts out with like him, I don't know I was like this is how I need to start getting ready for podcast, marcus, before you go out and host like sfs, this is how you need to like go out just like, dunk the face in the sink full of ice water shot of espresso right before you go out and just fucking led zeppelin playing, I was like let's go, we're off, but also you get. It paints the picture of this guy who's like this guy takes a lot to get going, it takes a lot to get him going and then he shuts down like he's broken.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, also on that music note, some of hans's best stuff recently, right, I mean like he is doing an impression of of resner and ross, but like from challengers, but some of the synth stuff is fantastic.
Speaker 1:Uh, on the score really it reminds it's, it's a better version. It's a very similar version, but it's a better version of his score for rush, the oh, another great racing movie. That's my favorite racing movie of all time and and it's very similar to his score there, but it is more. I mean, rush is set in the 60s and 70s and and kind of spans a few more decades after that. But, um, you know, this is of the times. This is really good and we get a good balance. You know, I couldn't wait to talk to you guys about about this music, either because, um, or the music choices, because we got this last year in twisters and I think we were all a huge fan of the original motion picture soundtrack. It makes your movie so much better. And F1 not only has a great score by Hans, but it has the original motion picture soundtrack with a lot of songs used in the movie, and I'm not talking about the jukebox needle drops of.
Speaker 1:Led Zeppelin, but a lot of current artists are on here, and so I thought that that really helped the production value as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, kaylee had a comment after we got out of the theater.
Speaker 3:She's like I don't think I've ever seen you dance so much in your seat during a movie and I was like, yeah, I was feeling it, man, I was, I was vibing and you touched on it a little bit here, but I think the whole idea of like him I mean I love these kind of like you know, the old guy gets one last shot at greatness I love those kinds of stories and they're so prominent in sports films in particular.
Speaker 3:It is possibly, I will acknowledge, just because I'm such a huge Paul Newman fan. But there's so much of like Slapshot in this movie with the corporate element because that looms so big in Slapshot and there's a lot of like. To me it feels like there's a lot of Paul Newman in this performance where it's like this old man kind of picking his spots and getting one last shot at greatness, in the way that like you feel that in the Color of Money, you feel that in Slapshot, you feel that in so many late-career Paul Newman performances and I think it is interesting that Kaczynski has directed Maverick and this film, which are both very much like a matinee idol getting one last shot and proving, proving like he can still do it, you know, or like, and kind of mentoring the next generation.
Speaker 3:I think that that's something.
Speaker 3:That's it's again, it's a classic archetype that I think, like is always appealing in some form.
Speaker 3:But I love the way that this film plays it and I love the way that Brad is like kind of allowing himself to be old on screen. In this film he's allowing himself to be old on screen. In this film he's allowing himself to be, you know, a man who's like in his fifties, a man who's actually in real life I think he just turned 60, but like in the film he's playing in his fifties, and that kind of thing. And I think, like, when a star allows themselves to be old on screen, to me that's such a, that's a wonderful transition point, because so often these days you see, like you know, 40 year olds playing, you know guys that are in, still in their 30s and still like toughing it out, and it's like, no, like, let yourself be old, like it's okay, like. I think like that brings gravitas to performance, to the performance. It brings gravitas to the film, certainly, um, and I think it really like it brings a lot to the experience of um uh of of the story and enjoying the film really well.
Speaker 1:I think it also it it allows pitt to use his best feature as an actor, which is just his, like natural given charisma which which he weaponizes so well in this movie, because his, his character isn't necessarily written to have a ton of charisma like, especially in in the first act. I would say he's giving you know like one word answers at the pressers and he is being a little bit of a curmudgeon. He's got a sharp tongue and a witty sense of humor, right, but it's not like we wrote him to be his character from Ocean's Eleven or something like that. He's not coming in there as this real hotshot, like retired vet. He has been humbled by his career and the place that he's at in life, like he understands, like I'm doing my laundry at a 24 7 uh laundromat here in florida right now and and that's kind of the energy that he maintains throughout the film.
Speaker 2:So I thought that was really good too, because obviously it's a charismatic performance, but that's just because it's brad pitt, so I thought that was used really well also yeah, it was very steve mcqueen, uh, uh, when I was, when I was watching, I mean, granted, you know they're both blonde and blue eyed, but uh, even you know, I think about Lamont, uh, which is another great racing movie, uh, that Steve McQueen did late in in his career and, uh, I think a little bit of the playbook from that was was pulled in here for this character he also definitely pulls from the vin diesel.
Speaker 1:Uh, for that 10 seconds I'm free speech, when he literally says he's flying, flying I was like oh my god, we've got it all here. People, uh, that was that was kind of poorly written, that speech, but still it was it's what you need.
Speaker 3:It's what you need, yeah, yeah well, yeah, because you need to set that whole thing up at the end too, of like, if it's again, it's it's kind of a craft question of like, if you know he's gonna win, then what is he gonna get from winning?
Speaker 1:and like and how can you make us still invested in that moment? How?
Speaker 3:can you still get us invested in that and when she's like he's flying and he is? Like and the camera's just low to the ground just turned down solid 30 seconds like oh my god, that shit rocks yeah, that was that that part was really good, the payoff was great yeah, where do you guys rank this in your racing movies?
Speaker 2:canon?
Speaker 1:I mean, for whatever reason, I don't know what was going on in my life in 2013 that made me just love and respond and cherish still to this day. Rush so much, but I still have like if I didn't really give this too much thought. But I did think right away like, do I like this movie more than rush? The answer is no. I think rush is like a five-star masterpiece, honestly One of the best movies of the 2010s. But it's up there with I mean like I kind of want to revisit the Wachowskis Speed Racer because I've seen people talk about that, Not really in comparison to this film, but just as another race movie here recently.
Speaker 1:So I don't know. I definitely liked it better than Gran Turismo from a couple of years ago and I thought that movie was really strong. So I don't know, it's in recent memory for recent race films. I think it's really really solid, really good.
Speaker 3:Just out of curiosity, are we talking strictly car racing or racing in general?
Speaker 2:I mean horse racing, dog racing, horse racing, we could race.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of, there's a lot of racing, there's bike racing. I mean Senna's got to be up there. I love Senna. I I would still put Rush above it, just because I think Rush is doing. I think Rush does the melodrama way better and to me that's like that's always the key with sports films is that, like you want to shoot the action capably, you want to tell the story capably. But it's like the degree to which you lean into the melodrama and this is just personal preference, the degree to which you lean into the melodrama, that I think like always sells it for me I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1:You are so invested in both daniel brule and chris.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh, my god, yeah yeah, and I think like investing you in both characters, like that, is so hard to do, um, so I mean I I would, I definitely put it below rush, but I mean I'd put it up there on my list. Um, I'm just looking at my list. We've gotten a couple of really good sports films the past couple of years. So, uh, but yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, I think I I definitely need to revisit rush. I can't remember the last time I watched that that film, uh, but I mean, for my money, I think f1 is my hands down favorite, uh, as far as that goes. You know, ford and ferrari or ford v ferrari is is really really good and really fun. And actually I was listening to, uh, a kaczynski interview.
Speaker 2:He originally was tapped to direct that film with brad pitt and tom cruise, uh, as as the damon bale uh, characters which would have been really, really interesting. Um, yeah, of course, that ends up falling apart and then he goes and does maverick instead. Uh, but kaczynski is just like like yes, you know putting the camera in the cockpit, he's done it twice now. Right, like we again like a lot of the same, like feel that you get from watching maverick, you got watching f1, but man, he is, he's really thrown down the gauntlet as far as like just a great big time blockbuster director. Right, because I mean, even if you think about something like Tron Legacy, which he did back in the day, and then Maverick and this yeah right, when it came out, people didn't love it.
Speaker 3:Now I feel like it's really well regarded. I'm so interested to see what he does next um because he's a really really good filmmaker, yeah right yeah, well, that that was the thing, like there's let's get him to do a.
Speaker 1:Uh, can he do a meeks?
Speaker 3:cut off and put a gopro in the covered wagon yeah, there was an article on the ringer this week that was like which tony scott movie should joseph kaczynski make a remake next? Yeah, and it's like valid, because I mean he's two for two.
Speaker 3:He did top gun, he, and he did his own days of thunder so I mean I'd love and I think that is kind of his like major skill set is like he's really good at putting you in that sort of in that experience of like a, in that high octane experience with like a, you know a, an aging male star who's got one last shot at greatness. I mean you could you'd have to look at it from a certain angle, but you can make that argument for Tron too, because I mean you got Jeff Bridges and that was one of the first movies that employed de-aging. I remember that was a huge deal, and so I think like there is like some element of that, that's like in his work that he's just such, a, such a natural craftsman with that and he's. I really am excited to see what he does next craftsman with that and he's.
Speaker 1:I really am excited to see what he does next. Um, okay, so are there any other thoughts here on f1? Before we get to our sports movie character discussion, I do want to just shout out um, you know, I don't think this movie couldn't have been made three or four years ago. It could not have been a pandemic production. Based on the amount of locations and the use of extras that this film employs, I thought that all the race stuff looks so good because you can tell this is shot on site. These are real pit crews, these are real people in the crowd, and I know they filmed at a lot of F1 events, I think from the previous two seasons, compiling footage. So just shout out to old school movie making in that regard.
Speaker 2:You love that, love to see it and, honestly, it makes such a huge difference. It makes such a huge difference when you are on the racetrack and you know, like Marcus said, people cheering for different drivers showing up Right, um, and it, it, just it, it really really helps, like bring you into that world, uh.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, uh, love, love, love, love that yeah, yeah, I mean I I think it's interesting because I think this movie is it. Like I said, it's really everything you want it to be, no more, no less. Um, and I think this movie I definitely feel I feel like this movie is great. It's never going to top my sports movie list, but I think it is a solid fun time at the movies.
Speaker 3:It's a great film to see in theaters specifically. It's just such a big production and it's a great film to see in theaters specifically. Um, it's just such a big production and it's so involving this, the sound design. So, specifically, that's something that we always talk about with film is that, like, the real reason to go to the theater isn't just like the big image but the sound design, and the sound design in this film is incredible. Um, and yeah, I mean I just think it's a really, really solid, really well-made movie with, uh, you know, with actors that we, that we like and uh with with solid, uh, directing and craftsmanship, and I I would definitely recommend seeing it in theaters if you can yeah, definitely it's.
Speaker 2:It's my second favorite movie of the year so far.
Speaker 2:Like it's in the top five sinners okay, yeah but yeah, I mean sinners in this are the two five stars that I've seen this year. So in in my opinion, uh, I think it's, I think it's great. I, I think f1 will. It's gonna be interesting to see what it looks like on it on a tv at home. But again, but again, brad Pitt's just one of these guys that I think their performance is just going to age even better and better and it's going to become a rewatchable movie that you can crank out at any time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, alex, I want to ask what your favorites are of the year before we move on.
Speaker 1:So I've yet to actually see. My sin this year is I have not seen sinners. So I'm kind of like holding space for that in my top five because I know I'm going to really, really enjoy that. That'll be part of my 4th of July plans. Once it comes to HBO Max, I I flirted with putting this at my number one spot and then I just had to stay true to kind of the genre sicko that I am and I I still have.
Speaker 1:Companion actually is my favorite film of the year. Um, and then gosh. I don't know I'm I'm a little rusty on my letterbox right now. I'm not sure exactly what else is hovering around the top five there. Um, but I I definitely would place this, this movie in the top three right now for me. Um, and then it's just um, oh, okay, I have warfare. And then also in my top five is a film I just watched um out of can called um dangerous animals, watched um out of can called um dangerous animals shark movie. Okay, um, kind of like a serial killer shark movie. Two different things in one is that is that the one with jai courtney yeah, it is yes.
Speaker 3:Oh man, I fuck with jai courtney hassey harrison is.
Speaker 1:The is the lead in that film and kind of a star making performance for her as well. Um, a name to watch out for. But yeah, I really, I really like that movie, yeah, yeah, okay. So let's get to the second half of this conversation. There was much deliberation surrounding how we were going to tie in a greater sports movie conversation with marcus. Here we ultimately landed on your Mount Rushmore of sports movie characters. So what that looks like is four characters from sports movies that each of us will be bringing to the table. We have our own personal list. It's not like we have to come up with a consensus here or anything. Can't wait to see the direction that you guys took with compiling your list. So how did you kind of go about figuring out who was going to make your shrine and who wasn't Max? I'll start with you actually here.
Speaker 2:Well, so I really wanted to try and touch as many sports as possible, right? So if there's a baseball player on here, there won't be another baseball player. If there's, you know, uh, I also really want to, because sports movies, you know, they seem to they, they also have like a wide sub genre, right, like there's romantic sports movies, there's kids sports movies, there's comedy sports movies, there's your, your, you know drama sports movie. Um, I did try to represent some of that. And then also, like I also kind of thought of like who are the four people that, like I want on my team? You know, uh, who's who's gonna if, if I am the fifth member of, of whatever team I'm putting together here, like who you go to war with, yeah, who do I go to war with who's going to make me the best?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure, so yeah, that's kind of how I went.
Speaker 1:Marcus.
Speaker 3:You know I came into this episode the least prepared I've ever come into an ATI episode. I'm shooting from the hip on a lot of these, but, that said, I've still lot of these, but I, that said, I'm still. I've still got my classic like. I've got a couple of hot takes that I'm, that I'm sitting on, and these are just ones that I've just been like. You know what I love. I love this character, I love this movie and I do think I do kind of agree with Max and that I I wanted to try and like give, spread the love around. You know, there's there's a couple like, there's at least one classic in there, there's a. There's a couple like, and there's a couple that you you might not expect or might not have heard of, cause you know I don't get much of a platform to like, really like, express my, the full range of my love oh, you just froze a little bit there, alex yeah, here we go.
Speaker 1:I think I'm back, um, and so I think I caught the end of what you were saying there, marcus. But I'm I'm right there with you guys where I tried to have some variance to my list and I also have a deep roster of honorable mentions, and so I do want to. I might pivot away from one of my guys if they are taken by someone else here, because I feel pretty confident in cementing five or six people up on this four-person mountain, if you will. Having said that, I will go first here because I do want to make sure I get this person to say that. You know, either of you could, um, could not also have them, but I'm, I'm going with my inspirational leader here first on my team, and this was a no brainer. It was the first character that I put down, because I don't think I've ever been as emotionally affected by a character in a sports film than I have been by my man g, baby and hardball oh, yeah, I love it, love it.
Speaker 1:So g baby goes on the mount rushmore, because I think that you could walk up to any gen x millennial, anyone who has been interested in the career of Keanu Reeves and studied his films, anybody, I mean, like to a person. You ask them what's one of the most impactful deaths in any movie ever, and you're not gonna have to wait long to hear G Baby's name be said um and so. For that alone, right there, he's my inspirational leader, cause a team has never rallied around a character more than they have G baby, not only when he was alive, but then also, you know, post-mortem, unfortunately. And so I need, I need G baby on the team, that whole squad, really Like if we were picking sports movie teams, I might have to go after that entire little league team. And so give me g baby on the mount rushmore, love it yeah, love it, love it.
Speaker 3:Um, yeah, I can, I can go. I mean, I gotta go uh with, uh what? The guy who is at the center of what I consider the greatest sports film ever made, daniel Rudiger, from Rudy Rudy, is a film that I returned to at least once a year. It's a film that I've loved for pretty much as long as I can remember and I just like you know, I, I, I, the. To me, the real joy of sports films often is you know, I, I, I, the.
Speaker 3:To me, the real joy of sports films often is you know, they're very aspirational and that film is it's. You know he's got a straightforward goal and it's a great little character study of him chasing this goal. You know he's too small to play for Notre Dame and he's, he doesn't have the grades and all this kind of stuff, and he works hard and he works hard and he overcomes obstacle after obstacle and all this kind of stuff and he works hard and he works hard and he overcomes obstacle after obstacle and then he achieves his goal and like who cares, he only plays like four downs, like who gives a shit, like he plays for notre dame, um, and I mean, you gotta he's, he's gotta be my main guy on on my mount rushmore here.
Speaker 2:So love it, love it. Uh, I need on my team. I need an enforcer, I need a protector, I need a hothead, uh. And so I want to go with one of the most quotable sports movie characters and it, for my money, the best sports comedy of all time, and that's happy Gilmore. Not to mention, he's a two sport player, uh, with hockey and golf. Uh, he's an athlete. He's getting a legacy sequel here, I believe this year, or maybe next year it comes out, um, and yeah, man, give me, give me Adam Sandler's happy Gilmore all day. Uh, I fucking love that movie and and love that character day.
Speaker 1:Uh, I fucking love that movie and and love that character. I love the pick. It segues beautifully into my, into my next selection and this is a real body of work pick here and and I'm taking, I'm taking the one season where this guy popped off and averaged like a double double and played 42 minutes a game. Um, I need howie ratner, I need adam sandler for uncut gems on my sports movie character, hall of fame mountain. Uh, resurrecting him from the dead. Resurrecting him from the dead there's two dead guys.
Speaker 1:You've resurrected it is two, two, wow is my entire no, their film. Um, the zombie sports movie bracket. I, I need my wild card. Um, I I always like finding, you know, we we do little wrinkles, we find little ways to sort of like cheat the list or whatever. But I think when you talk about sports movies, that's what uncut gems is. It's a sports gambling movie, but it is often overlooked, I think, as being an extremely well written, well researched piece of film because of how much it knows about the gambling world. Like you you want to talk about, like learning a lot. You learn so much when watching uncut gems about the world of sports gambling. Um, the good and the bad, mostly the bad. So so give me Howie Ratner, give me Adam Sandler as well, and again kind of a body of work. Pick here Um, appreciate the water boy, appreciate everything that he's done. Um, but I think this is, you know, not only a career apex for him, but um really an apex and and kind of sports movies, alternative sports movies, if you will.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I mean I'm I'm actually going to follow your lead there, cause I, I think, um, my pick here is a little bit of a body of work. Pick Cause, um, I I love Paul Newman, newman, which I mentioned earlier, so I I gotta go fast. Eddie felson uh, the hustler, color of money, um, and again, like paul newman, in something like slap shot, just like I, I love all of those performances, um, but the the hustler is one of. To me, it's one of, if not the greatest pool movies of all time.
Speaker 3:I mean it's just, I love the five pool movies out there.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there's a few.
Speaker 1:I mean, I just love the pool player in my honorable mention. It's not necessarily a pool movie, but I got you See.
Speaker 3:Max, you don't know.
Speaker 3:I got you See, Max, you don't know. No, I mean I love Fast Eddie Felsen in the Hustler, where he's got you know, because it is really like a perfect, like Paul Newman sort of dichotomy where, like early in his career he's playing all these kind of like young hot shots who like need to be humbled, and then later in his career he's playing the old man who's been humbled and has to pick his spots, but like is wisened enough to know where the exact right spot to pick is. Uh, which he does in color of money, which also stars young Tom Cruise, Um. So yeah, I mean I gotta go fast. Study Felson, he's gotta be on there for me.
Speaker 2:I can't, can't, let my boy fall down me, I can't, can't, let my boy fall down. Uh, well then I'm next player on my team or on my. Mount rushmore is a young phenom, uh, and again, like we're jumping around subgenres, I think this is the greatest, or if if not the greatest, in the top two, top three. Greatest like kids sports movies, right like the, the, the young kid sports movies. I'm taking benny the jet, roger egus oh, I was gonna pick him. Goddamn, of course, man, we, we gotta have that young kid. He's, he's a good dude, he's a good ball player, uh, he's got the, the PF flyers on, and he grows up to play for the Dodgers. So love to have him up there.
Speaker 2:The Sandlot, a movie that is just very important to my childhood and upbringing and one that gets played right around Fourth, right around 4th of July during that time almost every year, and just a fantastic baseball movie. And you know coming of age and nostalgia all over that, even though I wasn't around in the 60s, but it is very, you know, backyard baseball kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:Um, so, yeah, I got the jet. I think somehow this movie, although it's it's set decades before we were born, feels like a movie 90s, right yeah totally. It's the age that we were when we came to it. I do think that if you are going kids sports movies, this is like the clear number one overall pick, probably movie to draft from and character to take as well, so, so good, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely couldn't agree more um, okay, so to my, to my third pick.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm gonna wait on the guy I was gonna go with next, because I feel like something that Max sort of teased in his construction um speech there at the beginning makes me think he might go this route, and then I can still pivot. So I'm going to go, I'm going to go to uh, jesus, shuttles worth for my third Yep, and it was on the list.
Speaker 1:Take, take Ray Allen um from he on the list. Take, take ray allen um from. He got game mentally. I don't think we've ever seen a tougher sports movie character than jesus shuttlesworth. I mean, he's dealing with the death of his mother, his father is incarcerated and out of prison and if he doesn't pick the right school, if he doesn't pick a school he's gonna have to go back to. There's just, there's so much on this on this kid's shoulders, um, and and so not only for for what he can do between the ears, but also between the lines we're taking. We're taking jesus here in this spot, um, I also just.
Speaker 1:There's some stories, uh, from the production that I've heard spike lee tell before in interviews. Like that, the epic one-on-one. You know there's actually there's not a ton of basketball in this movie really, but that's, that's fine, that's kind of like beside the point, um, but the, the, the, of course, like epic one-on-one scene between denzel and ray at the end of the game or at the end of the movie, excuse me, um, is is such a, it's such an impactful and and powerful scene. But it's also really funny to hear spike talk about because in in the script I guess it was written for ray to to beat denzel 11 and zero and and really just kind of be like you're nothing, old man, you know, and he still gets to do all those things that are in the script.
Speaker 1:However, denzel being denzel, and I guess you know young denzel in the early 90s was like no, like he got game, I got game okay like I can still go at ray a little bit here and so the five, the five points that he scores he actually scored on ray allen and I guess ray's looking over to spike like offset and he's looking over at other people um on the production team and being like what the fuck is happening right now?
Speaker 1:This isn't in the script. Um and Denzel's just like continuing to check the ball up and score on him and stuff, and and and again, a credit to spike um, just let the cameras roll and capture it all because he's like, yeah, this isn't in my script, but this is so much better for the movie, for pops to, for Jake, you know to, to get some buckets and so an incredible scene, great stories. And I need, I need a killer, someone who I can give the ball to in the, in the final, you know, minute of the game and, and I think that's Jesus for my money.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, yeah, I love that. Oh man, I God, I love it. I love he got game so much. Such a good movie. Yeah, yeah, I mean I I got one that I think Alex is actually going to like I'm I'm digging real deep and I'm actually crossing the Atlantic for this one. So I I'm going to, I'm going to explain this a bit and then I'm going to tell you who I'm picking.
Speaker 3:So there's I'm a big fan of with French sports movies in particular, because the thing with American sports movies is often they're all about like how you win the big game, and French sports movies are kind of the opposite, where they're like how do you stay in it? How do you survive? How do you stay in it? How do you survive? How do you like just keep going? And there's this thing.
Speaker 3:There's a couple of really great ones that I really love. There's one called Sparring, which is about this like boxer, who's like a he's a career sparring partner and he's never won a match and all this kind of stuff. That's that's kind of on my honorable mentions list. That guy never won a match and all this kind of stuff. That's that's kind of on my honorable mentions list that guy. But the one that is going to make my Mount Rushmore is this character named Thomas J, thomas J Edison, from this French tennis movie called final set.
Speaker 3:And this whole, the whole thing in this movie is this guy who's been hanging around the edge of the sport. He's been trying to, he's been trying to break through. He had one shot, he missed it and he's just trying to get back into it and it's all about him like getting that final shot and making the most of it. And this guy's just got drive and he sticks in it.
Speaker 3:And there's this great recurring bit in the movie that I really love, where he's like talking to someone and he's like basically giving this monologue and then later in the film he's like doing a press junket and he's giving the same monologue and it's clear that like he was just like he had this whole thing in his head the entire time and he is just like carrying it over into his now professional life. Um, and he's, and as a tennis player, he, he's great, great, he sticks with it, he, he digs out a match and I want someone like that on my team. Who's gonna, who's gonna stick through it when it's, when it's hard, when it when the going is really tough and it doesn't look good. I want someone's going to be able to dig it out and still see that you know you can, that we can come through the other side of this.
Speaker 2:Hmm, I love it Great reasoning yeah, my next pick is a movie from 2023, which I think was criminally underrated, under seen, and that is from the movie iron claw, and I'm taking Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich. This is the wrestling film about the Von Erich family and the tragedy that they went through as pioneers of the wrestling Worldwide Wrestling Federation Federation. Just a fantastic, fantastic performance from emotional performance from Zac Efron, but also like the physical transformation he went through for this film is really really insane and how big he is and again, just kind of as as maybe G baby is is Alex's inspirational leader, I think. I think Kevin Von Eric, someone who you know lost four brothers in a matter of 10 years uh, you know, is our emotional and and spiritual leader.
Speaker 2:Um, just really, really love iron claw. I actually randomly threw it on the TV like a couple of weeks ago. It's fucking. It's an amazing movie from 2023 that that never got enough love, uh, when it came out.
Speaker 1:Well, there you are, giving it some love. All right, my fourth and final pick and if this is on anyone else's list, stop me right away so that I can pivot without doing a whole soliloquy but my number four Mount Rushmore inductee is Jerry Maguire. Oh yeah, so I have to have Tom Cruise represented on this list somewhere, because, as someone who I think has been much maligned over his career for doing athletic things in a very non-athletic way in his movies, this is the perfect role for him. To just be in the sports world, though, because you can buy his character as a sports agent and and not necessarily a player I think that that casting is so good, and so, once again, this is kind of like the howie ratner side of of the coin when it comes to a sports movie and the best character in a really good film not necessarily someone playing an athlete. So Jerry Maguire is going to be kind of the coach of my team here.
Speaker 1:Um, just a great arc for his character in this movie. Uh, learned so much. And speaks to what Max was saying about how the different sub genres within a sports movie. You know, this is a real romantic sports movie, but a really effective sports movie. Nonetheless, and when you're talking about top five, top seven, tom cruise performances of his career, I think you have to mention jerry mcguire. So there's there's a lot of meat on the bone with this pick, um, which I think ultimately helped it sneak into my top four, as opposed to other people who are um at the center of a film as the athlete.
Speaker 3:So jerry mcguire, final pick for me yeah, I, before I get into this, I have to know we're gonna do honorable mentions here.
Speaker 3:Yeah oh yeah okay, I just gotta make sure. Uh, yeah, because I mean my, I think it's impossible to like, I, I think it's impossible, not only I think it's impossible, not only impossible, I think it would be a complete disservice to the genre to not just throw Kevin Costner on my, on my, on my Mount Rushmore, and it could, you can, you can hide your pick. You got for the love of the game, you got crash Davis and Boulder, which is, to me, I think, his best sports movie. A lot of people go to bat for field of dreams. I think that movie is weird as shit and no one acknowledges it.
Speaker 3:um tin cup in there, you, you can even go draft day like you got a lot of you, got a lot of wiggle room there uh, jessica chastain's dead father in molly's game, oh my god alex, you should add them to your team of ghosts yeah, yeah, actually, I'll give them
Speaker 1:to you, thanks, yeah, yeah, I mean, those five minutes are unassailable oh my god.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I think you just gotta. You gotta put the cause on there and it could be. It doesn't even need to be any one performance. If I have to go with one, I'd probably pick him as crash Davis, cause I that's like one of my favorite sports movies in general him and Susan Sarandon and nuclear Lush and all that stuff. Like I love all that. But I got to put the cause on there. Got to put the cause I love it.
Speaker 1:I feel like, yes, your, your list is really helping give this entire episode theme, our episode's, more valid. Now with Rudy, with Costner, with this representation.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you got to have some Rudy on there, so you got to have some representation for all the boys who cry watching.
Speaker 2:Rudy, all the classics, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Not me crying in my seventh grade college education class.
Speaker 2:Uh well, uh, much, much like Alex, I need a coach uh on my Mount Rushmore Um, someone you know, a leader of men uh, someone who we're going to get up in the morning and we're we're happy to be at practice because we're being coached by the great uh, denzel Washington coach Herman from remember the Titans maybe the greatest coach performance. Um you know, in in a sports movie. Um you know, I know a lot of people love racism.
Speaker 1:Huh, so he did solve racism in the movie.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I know a lot of people love racism. Huh, so he did. He solves racism in the South. Uh, we get a history lesson about Gettysburg and we know that the left side is strong side. Um so, oh my God, left side.
Speaker 3:So good. Uh, first sports movies I ever saw.
Speaker 2:Yeah, remember the Titans again they kicked off my love yeah. Yeah, just another very important sports movie. Uh, to to me growing up. Uh, again, if we were going for teams, I would definitely go for the Titans team as probably my my first pick. Um, uh, a great cast of characters throughout. So, uh, and you know, maybe we get Coach Bill Yost as well as the assistant on this team.
Speaker 3:But yeah, one of the great character actors too, yeah.
Speaker 2:Herman Boone has to be up there on my Mount Rushmore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, all right?
Speaker 1:Well, this might be the part that I'm looking forward to, more than the actual amount are the honorable mentions.
Speaker 1:Um, I don't know, I think maybe we I mean, I have a list of 10 plus here, so I don't want to just all of us chew up um a bunch of airspace. Maybe we just kind of ping pong back and forth. I'll go. I'll go with the top three that I think were the most difficult for me to keep off of my list here. Um, and, and that starts with Nikki Lauda, daniel Brule from rush, yeah, um was was the odd one out here. Just just a tough beat for Nikki. Um, his career is full of them, though, but he persevered, and so he's going to get through this as well. And, and then I got sanaa lathan, monica right oh yeah yeah, I almost put her on mine
Speaker 1:another really tough one to have to cut. And then I, you know we never get to see him play. But in terms of hype, give me, give me a four star, five star recruit from the state of texas and let me get randall pink floyd from days and confused. Jason london, um, just I. I think this kid could have been a generational talent if he didn't hang around with a bunch of stoners and care about aerosmith tickets. I'm maybe of the mindset the coach is right you're throwing away your championship season here, um, so so randall pink floyd, big shout out. Yeah, I don't think there's anybody.
Speaker 3:Jason london and dazed and confused, maybe one of the coolest people ever uh, yeah, I mean, before I get into mine I do want to shout out uh, max, because the inclusion of herman boone, we have to note, kicked off a whole run of like sports movies, specifically about coaches because then you get like you get like coach carter, you get uh, what's the one that the rock did?
Speaker 1:god, I can't remember gridiron gang yeah you get all sorts of like sports.
Speaker 3:It's a lot miracle, yeah, yeah and they're all specifically about the coach and they're not so much about, like you know, playing the game. It's all about like, and I, I love that. Personally, I think I love those movies. Um, I mean, if the tippy top of my honorable mentions is, uh, francis, I can never say his last name. Oh, we met from a greatest game ever played the Shia LaBeouf movie. That movie is directed by Bill Paxton and it's just like. To me, it's one of the most effective uses of like. It has some of the most effective like technical filmmaking for sports films. So he's up there for me. God, I was going to put Sanaa Lathan Is that how you say her name? She, she almost made my list, so she's an honorable mention for me. Um, god, I, I love that none of us put any boxing movies on our lists. I think that's really.
Speaker 1:that's really interesting problematic characters can't have that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not it, yeah I'm just not a huge fan of the rocky movies and I know you know, rocky is on every list, usually as number one or two. Um, but just not never been a fan of those movies yeah, yeah, very problematic, like very problematic guy yeah most boxing movies are about how the boxers are bad people and they overcome that.
Speaker 3:Um, uh, I uh. Not a lot of sports comedies on here, so I gotta put ben stiller and dodgeball. That was one of the first uh pg-13 movies I ever saw. To this day, I think that movie holds up. That movie's great I, I had.
Speaker 2:I had peter lafer uh vince vaughn's character on my honorable mention list yeah, um, I I got kind of a deep cut.
Speaker 3:North Dallas 40 has a great Nick Nolte performance. He's playing Philip Elliott, so so good. That movie's great. Mira Nahr did Kinev Katwe, which is like a chess movie but I'd call it a sports movie. The main character in that, Finoa Muzzi. She's amazing. That performance is phenomenal. And then final two here we gotta go Sidney Dean White Men Can't Jump Wesley Snipes, so good. And then finally a real heart of the locker room Sidney Dean White, man Can't Jump Wesley Snipes, so good. And then finally a real heart of the locker room, kind of coach kind of thing. We get Jack Cunningham, Ben Affleck and the Way Back.
Speaker 3:So, good, Also like an iconic movie trailer.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah, other than, yeah, peter LaFleur from dodgeball, I had randy the ram, uh. Robinson from the wrestler uh, if I wasn't gonna be able to get benny the jet, then I probably go um the rookie.
Speaker 3:I'm trying to remember that character's name. Oh my God, dennis Quaid and the rookie man.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, dennis Quaid and the rookie, or even like what is this other movie, a rookie of the year from 1993. Starring Thomas Ian Nichols is it was another great baseball movie that just was important during childhood. And then Shane Flacco from the Replacements Again just like a great comeback story. And then, honestly, I thought about putting Sonny Hayes on this list.
Speaker 1:I know it's too early to call, but that's how hyped up I was coming out at f1 last night yeah, shane falco has the uh, he has the most sightings of a fictional character's jersey that I've ever seen in real life. Oh my god, I would say like once a year at the seahawks games I spot somebody in a falco jersey, which is just incredible work. Um, okay, so I also have a ben affleck character on my list here I'm going back to dazed and confused. And when he is in the emporium and he's just clearing people off again like dacent, confused, I quasi sports film and when he is no, look, eight balling shots saying it, it's an honor.
Speaker 1:I even let you play at my table. It is great, great stuff um I gotta give a shout out to willie beeman a little bit of of a cancer in the locker room, I would say I can't have that running around unchecked, um, yeah, but. But shout out to jamie fox. Jamie fox, with two appearances on on my honorable mentions list also because god damn if I don't want he and colin farrell racing, go fast boats for me and my yeah, yeah so jamie fox comes on here twice.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, I I need to give a shout out to a sport that we don't recognize anymore, that we don't practice anymore, and that's for the better. Um, you know, the world in 2025. Who knows where we're headed, though? But maximus aurelius, russell, crowe and gladiator at the time it was a sport.
Speaker 1:I used to say that it won't come back. So so russell crowe, um, from gladiator, makes the list. I'm kind of jumping around so I'm losing my space here. I gotta give my girl, kira Knightley, a shout out and bend them like Beckham, her character Jules awesome Blake Lively, also in the shallows. If that would have been a surfing movie. I think she rips it up for 90 minutes. Um, I need to get, I need to get my, I need to get. Uh, makai Pfeiffer from O.
Speaker 2:I thought for sure he was going to be on your map.
Speaker 3:I love that. That's on your list. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:You talked about a five-star recruit, a prospect coming out of prep school there. We've never seen anything like Oden James before, and then two cameo appearances that I definitely needed more from. I have to give my guy Tip Harris TI some love and American gangster.
Speaker 1:Let's go out, he's getting scouted by the Yankees, shows up to the family reunion and it's just talking so much shit at that table. So so I love, I love TI as as just a character again, not a sports movie movie, but a sports character. And then, and then, maybe the maybe the best cameo of all time guys, miles teller playing miles teller in project x as a baseball player. Um, just great, great stuff when they're in the supermarket and he's like my toe, what's cracking bro? And then, and then they invite him to the party and he goes, we'll play catch, and miles says no, so good it's so funny oh my god, wait, wait, could I?
Speaker 3:I gotta get in on the second round of honor, please let me go go okay, so we gotta start up top with. I can't believe this is the only sports film performance. Um, but ethan hawke in the in the movie the phenom he I'm not gonna deny he plays the abusive dad, but he's fucking great and more people need to like. Take ethan hawk and put him in sports movies. I have a long-term goal of putting also ethan hawk and training day apparently a strong safety that that was highly recruited coming out of high school.
Speaker 3:According to scott glenn, he never forgets alex has a brain that I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside. Um, yeah, okay, so we got, we got that. Um, oh god, I just had like a bunch. Um, oh goodness, okay, we gotta go math to go, matthew McConaughey, and we Are Marshall.
Speaker 1:He's up there.
Speaker 3:Another like in the shadow of Remember the Titans, another movie about a coach helping a team overcome Gotta. Make sure we're shouting out Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That movie gotta be in there, gotta be in there. I recently watched Karen kusama's girl fight uh, incredible. Michelle rodriguez performance in that movie uh, great, great, uh early I think like 2000, yeah, 2000s, like uh boxing indie movie, that movie's really great never seen that.
Speaker 1:I've always wanted to, so you recommend it oh yeah, absolutely, I know it's in the collection and maybe it's time for blind buy yeah, uh, that one's great.
Speaker 3:Um, since alex is throwing out some weird ones, I'm gonna shout out rhubarb of the cat from the movie from the 1951. Uh, rhubarb, uh. Movie about rhubarb the cat who saves the baseball team.
Speaker 2:Rhubarb the cat gotta be in there well then, we gotta put air bud in there too he's pulling shit from fucking training day air bud was Stephen Curry before Stephen Curry. I mean, he's pulling up from the three point line constantly yeah, we're gonna throw Johnny Knoxville from the Ringer in there.
Speaker 3:Wildly offensive Doesn't work at all. He's funny in it. One of the best movies I saw this year Ephus I'm not even going to name a person, but that's currently at the top of my 2025 list.
Speaker 1:I got to see that movie. This film is your 2024, 2025 version of hundreds of beavers, where you're the one that championing, championing this movie, like relentlessly, and I'm going to see it because of you, yeah.
Speaker 3:The thing that's so great about Ephus is that it like fully captures the joy of like adult rec sports and it's just. It's literally just like a day in the life of like, it's like a slice of life, drama, or I'd say even slice of comedy, really about a baseball field that's going to be closed down so they're going to build a school where that field is, and it's just these old guys playing their last game at the field. It's like, it's fun, it's like very low stakes and it's really just like a day in the life and it's just like. It's so great. Carson Lund, great up and coming director. Ephus, one of the best films I've seen this year and will definitely be on my year-end list. I won't pick a character, could be anyone from that movie. Um, I'm a little surprised alex hasn't called out challengers yet.
Speaker 1:I'm a little surprised, just I don't know who I would do like tashi's, the one that that I think would probably do the most for my team.
Speaker 3:Um yeah, toshi is like she's up there with denzel as a coach, as a coach right, um, but yeah, career cut short due to injury, you know.
Speaker 2:So that's a tough beat, yeah yeah um and then my final, you've got two people who were cut short because of death.
Speaker 1:They're dead yeah, but it's the legacy, okay, it's like the Pat Tillman award for my team yeah, it's like Pat Tillman or Roberto Clemente yeah, bring them back.
Speaker 3:And then my girlfriend would be very upset with me if I didn't include Haley Graham. I'm not even going to try and pronounce her last name, but hayley graham from the movie stick it, which is a gymnastics movie starring her and jeff bridges, and katie has seen it twice and has loved it more every time and actually asks to watch it pretty frequently. Um so, gotta, gotta include stick it in there.
Speaker 1:That makes me I mean we got to give kiki dunst and gabby union a shout out for bringing on oh yeah, yeah, yeah, oh.
Speaker 3:And then I guess one more being hillary swank and million dollar baby. Uh, bringing that one back from the dead as well no, I can't see a lot of shaking heads. Look, it's not her fault. Someone said someone else set the chair there. It's not her fault.
Speaker 2:She's biting her tongue off. No, no, no, no hillary swank's.
Speaker 1:Great that movie that's some good stuff there in the honorable mentions category um okay, so, so, before I I send us off here, let's, let's hear some of these grievances, some of these hot takes that you need to get off your chest, marcus. What, what have you been? Uh, what have you been hearing us say recently?
Speaker 3:I mean I, I wanna, I, I wanna re-litigate materialists and Max's opinion that it's fine. I don't think it's fine. I think it's got some real deep problems. I think, first off I believe it was you, alex, that said that you're excusing Dakota Johnson's performance.
Speaker 1:I think that's terrible. I haven't seen the movie, but I just will already tell you that I'm excusing her performance.
Speaker 2:And listen. I'll say it again I've never understood Dakota Johnson or how she continues to get jobs. She is not my flavor of ice cream as far as acting goes, but you didn't like hang dog chris evans here's.
Speaker 3:Here's the thing about chris evans is that chris evans's character is too clean. He's his beard is way too close, way too close kemp, we and he. He looks way too clean that if he's gonna be hang dog, that man needs to be dirty as shit, that man needs to have messy hair and his life needs to be way more messy. A lot of my problem with that movie is I have problems with the script and I have problems with the casting. Dakota Johnson is so wildly miscast because she's so aloof. There's like nothing there for her. But and I will say like it is, some of that is in the writing, but then the other part of that being that, like chris heavens doesn't have any kind of an arc. He like doesn't do, like he literally comes at her and is like man, I would love to be with you again, but I can't change my life. And then he doesn't change his life and she's like I guess I'll be with you and that's the movie and it's oh my god, sometimes.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you know one partner can't change their life and you, just you, you know, if they're that special, you gotta just accept it god, chris evans isn't that special, pedro pascal's special, although I see, I I didn't like pedro in that movie. I thought he was doing weird, weird, weird choices as well oh man I thought he was miscast I.
Speaker 3:I think dakota johnson's miscast. I think Chris Evans is okay and I do agree with you that I like Chris Evans when he's playing an asshole. He should always be playing an asshole and I think he's just playing like he's just too clean. He just needs to be dirtier and messier and his life needs to be more of a wreck. Um then I feel like we get from him. But I feel like so much of my problems with materialist does kind of come back down, uh, to the actual script of it.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, it's like it's no past lives it's no past lives.
Speaker 3:It's hard. It's hard to talk past lives. Yeah, I like that. She's like moving the camera. Celine Song's like moving the camera and trying out some stuff. I think that's really interesting. I have some issues with that. I have some issues with, like, the overall film.
Speaker 2:Although, like I don't like Dakota's like performance style, I think that character does need to be aloof.
Speaker 3:uh, to a certain degree if you're a matchmaker, I think, if that's your career choice, you're you're kind of a little bit of aloof in life you can be aloof and like you can be aloof like in your, in your career, and also still care about like, also still like care about your personal life. She just there's like nothing going on in there. Dakota Johnson shouldn't ever play a poor person either. That woman was raised by money and she shows it. Um, that's like probably my primary gripe. Um, yeah, god, I had a, I had a more, but I didn't write them down. I'm sorry, guys, I'm letting you down by not coming in to argue more.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, it just kind of dawned on me that we could maybe take 10 minutes here to talk about 28 years later, because Max and I were able to make that episode happen last week. Um, yeah, so you know, we can kind of curb all of our danny boyle thoughts and still maybe have time to fit those in on a on a bonus episode down the road somewhere.
Speaker 1:But you saw that film right, marcus um did so yeah let's let's maybe just spend a second here kind of talking about what we thought worked and what we thought didn't work with that movie. Um, because the more I read about it, I kind of am I'm sensing that I'm on the outside looking in with this movie. Um, people are saying it's like one of you know. People are saying it's one of the best of the year.
Speaker 3:I don't agree okay, yeah, I mean I, I really liked it. It's. It's up there on my year-end list. I don't know if it'll, you know, make my my final list for the year, but it definitely it. It got me way more than I expected it to, to be sure.
Speaker 1:Um, all the jody comer stuff really snuck up on me and if you listeners don't know that's, that's one of mark's, is that's one of your girls right there I?
Speaker 3:do have Jodie Comer. Yeah, yeah, I looked. I liked her in bike riders, which I know Max is a big fan of. He's smiling right now, yeah.
Speaker 1:I, I really, I really like the pandemic, the last duel.
Speaker 3:Oh man, she's great. When I first saw it I definitely felt like it's like 30 minutes too long. But I also again just from a screenwriting perspective I understand why those 30 minutes need to be there, because it's reintroducing you to the world as it is now. The Aaron Taylor Johnson stuff is really is it kind of works for me. Another podcast I listened to kind of framed it as like Aaron Taylor Johnson should always appear as if he's two beers deep and I think that tracks a lot in that movie. I think he's. He's really good with playing someone who's a little bit messy and kind of a little not creepy, but he's a little bit like not well kept. I would say yeah, so I mean, I liked 28 Years Later. I'm not someone who necessarily watches a lot of horror films or a lot of zombie films, but I found it to be surprisingly emotional. All the Ralph Fiennes stuff really really moved me. I'm a little bit curious to hear what you guys think, especially you, you, alex, because it sounds like you kind of didn't vibe with it.
Speaker 1:Max aaron tay, aaron taylor, johnson, in this movie, uh, big box guy, I'll tell you off. Mike, I'll tell you. He, mic, I'll tell you it is Just crazy, crazy work for them to have a son witness that in the alley. Yeah, got to pack that up, do that somewhere else. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know these movies I think are in this series. I this isn't know these movies I think are in this series.
Speaker 1:This isn't really that fair to say, but I think that, like, I'm not going to say that they're only as strong as their opening sequences, but so much of these movies really set the tone with their opening sequence and I thought that this one was pretty weak. So again, it's kind of that reintroductory period, like remember, this is where we are and this is what's happening, and and then like and I put in my letterbox review, I'm just led, I'm I'm led down an interesting road, but a road that that presents so many questions that just aren't answered. Like I guess that the rest of the world has contained this virus and we've just decided that, like we're not gonna drop a nuke on north scotland or wherever we are, we're not gonna just like send in some, some drone strikes to take these guys out, like I just I don't know. I get it. It's a movie you needed for the, for the dramatic element of it, um, and that's fine. But I also think just like kind of lazy writing by by Alex Garland, and that's who I've I've ultimately landed on, like.
Speaker 1:The person that I'm most let down by with this movie is Garland. Um, you know, he's always going to have a problem writing female characters feel like and that's, and, and that's why, for one, warfare worked really well for me, because he just like abstained from from doing any of that. And then civil war was, I think, more effective because of the simplicity of of that narrative just a road movie basically, um, and even within there, you know, there's still some interesting things that he does, with the kirsten dunst character in particular. But, um, so I thought the script really wasn't there.
Speaker 1:There was a lot of stuff that I did like. I mean some of the, the vision sequences I thought were really cool. I thought boyle was back in his bag in a big way for some of it. Um, the, the framing of some shots, like this alpha zombie that we get on the hill, really reminded me of like a scary stories to tell in the dark illustration. You remember those books that you would get from like your elementary school library, like really creepy stuff, um, yeah, kind of littered throughout this movie, but as, as far as like a sustained fun time, um, I, I just didn't really have it like from from wire to wire with this one, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the the, the more and more I think about this movie. I think, the more and more it stinks. Uh it, uh, I, I love, I do really love, like the, we're taking this boy out to get his first kill. You know where we live in this weird, like you know, amish village that you know it's a like why, if you are this isolated community, why are you risking?
Speaker 1:future generations by having. I get it. Maybe you're looking for these slug zombies that are just super easy kills or whatever, but you're putting future generations at risk when I feel like that's not what you should be doing.
Speaker 2:Well, because they all have to be able to defend themselves right, yeah, that was my thought be able to defend themselves, right? Yeah, that was my thought, and they go out to to get you know, to forage for for food and and wood and and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Um, so I, I love that and I, but yeah, as alex mentioned, like I hate the fact that, like they go to like tell you that, like the whole the rest of the world is fine. I hate that like what it should. Like the whole, the rest of the world is fine. I hate that Like what it should be. The whole world should be like post-apocalyptic or whatever. And there are different factions of people all over the world and and everyone's got different ways of of of defending themselves or or you know, uh, continuing their communities. Um, I liked Ralph Fiennes, but the fact that Jodie Comer goes all this way and then he's like you have cancer and now it's time to burn you alive, Uh, just did not wait, and she's like okay, and she just gets up and goes like does not work. Does not work for me at all. Um, I told Max.
Speaker 1:Marcus, that it's, it's. It's giving a lot of lily gladstone killers of the flower energy yeah, I could see that, I think like.
Speaker 3:One thing that I do like about that, though, is I I think, like, thematically, the film is really interested in, um, in how we approach death, and I like the idea of, like people still dying in normal ways, even though there is this rage virus and all this other kind of stuff and try, and how we kind of maintain our humanity in the face of you know something terrible like a rage virus. I like that aspect of it, and that's what I think really really has stuck with me, but I can absolutely understand being like.
Speaker 2:None of this makes sense, like logically well, yeah, and then the, the baby and the pregnant rage, yeah, woman, yeah the placenta the the power of the placenta. So but you know it's interesting because I was thinking, you know, was she infected, like, was she pregnant before she was infected? Was she infected after she was pregnant? Uh, how was she? Yeah, who's the partner?
Speaker 1:whatever, I it just aaron taylor johnson after six a lot, a lot of questions and then and then the ending sequence.
Speaker 2:The end sequence, it just feels like a completely different movie and that that completely didn't work for me and I know it's setting up a sequel right, yeah, totally yeah, but like it, it just like totally. I don't know, it was just a an odd choice that left me with a bad taste in my mouth as I walked out the out the theater. So, yeah, this is one of my least favorite movies of the year.
Speaker 3:I did remember the other take that I was going to come in with. Yeah, I just looked up the text message threat that you sent me, the text message threat that Max followed up by sending me a gif of Muhammad Ali dancing in the ring.
Speaker 2:Yeah, ready to fight. You did not like.
Speaker 3:Life of Chuck. I don't think life of chuck. I I feel like I'm in the minority on this and that I think life of chuck actually works best. In the opposite direction, I think the third act is the best oh, interesting, far and away. It's only, it's the only act that has, like, any clear storytelling stakes to it.
Speaker 2:Um, it's definitely the most complete of the three. It's the most complete. But, there's way too much Mark Hamill in it for me.
Speaker 3:I mean that seems to be most people's. I don't care, give me a bath in the river of ham. Yeah, I mean I'm fine with Hamill in the third act. The third act feels like the most complete. It does feel like it's telling a complete story, whereas the second act I'm just like wondering where we're even, how we even got here.
Speaker 2:It's not even well, it's not even an act really, it's really just a dance sequence even an act, really it's.
Speaker 3:It's really just a dance sequence, really, yeah, and then and then it's like you know, thinking about the dance sequence and the first act to me, what? What drives me crazy is that it's like the world is ending and like no one's freaking out. Everyone's like crazy. The world's ending, man, crazy man. It's crazy that all the power went out.
Speaker 2:Crazy and like I think edger, for is, is freaking out to a certain point, you know no, hardly.
Speaker 3:He's like sitting in his living room watching a musical.
Speaker 2:He's like man what else would you rather? What else are we gonna do?
Speaker 3:I don't know, but I wouldn't do that. That's like a lot of my issue with life. I don't think it's like bad um, but I it just didn't quite work for me as well. I would say um, I think it is like it is like a nice, like life-affirming forrest gump style drama and I I like that we get that and I like that it's in theaters. I like that like, I like that this exists and that's kind of my feeling on any film like that that I that does make it to theaters where I'm like you know what? I don't. I don't love it, it's not for me, but I'm so glad this exists because I know so many people who do love it. We, we have our mutual friend that I think you saw it with that. I know he really likes it and I have a. I have a couple of different people that I have seen it with it or I know that have seen it, and they have spoken very highly of it. So you know it's not, it's not necessarily for me.
Speaker 3:I have a lot of problems with the first two sections of the story, but I think that third act is wonderful two sections of the story, but I think that third act is wonderful, um, and I think it does very much accomplish what the story is going for and telling this kind of nice life affirming story. Yeah, yeah, yeah Cool. Yeah, yeah, that's it. No, no more problems.
Speaker 1:You guys are doing great. Thank you, Marcus. Um, okay, Well, while while we have you here, I got a couple questions for you. I'm sure you can guess some of the kind of scripted ones that I'm going to throw your way. I do want to ask, though, because I saw you post about it the other day when the 50% off Barnes Noble sale went live Are you getting any new pieces of physical media from the criterion collection?
Speaker 3:this go about you know I'm I do. Yeah, I've got um right now. I've got the before trilogy on the way um I that had been on my list for a long time and obviously those movies are classics, um, but I mean that that's really it for me, this go go around. I've kind of been like I do have a couple other movies on the way, but they're not Criterion's. I just bought After Yang, which I just oh my God one of my favorite movies.
Speaker 3:I'm so excited for Big, bold, beautiful Journey too, with Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, and I love After Yang. That movie is, I will say, not a great movie to watch after a breakup. That was the first time I saw it but it's a really, really wonderful meditation on love and life. It's another very life-affirming movie that's very calming I find, and the other one that I have on the way is the Puffy Chair, the Mark.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, the.
Speaker 3:Duplass Brothers movie yeah, I think their first feature film. But no, nothing crazy this go around. I know they'll probably have another big 50% sale in the fall or winter, and that's usually when I really go all in.
Speaker 1:Got anything in the cart Max, anything you're looking at.
Speaker 2:Uh, no, not, not, not at this moment. Uh, I haven't. I haven't had time to peruse, to be honest, Um, uh, but I did recently clock, while I was out uh working, uh on location, I clocked a giant used DVD, Blu-ray video store up in like Burbank that I immediately pinned on my maps and so one of these days I'm going to, once I find some time, I'm going to run up there and and I cannot wait to run, through that store.
Speaker 2:It's just called used used DVD and it was just like this giant yellow and black sign and it's literally like a it it was like a warehouse, like it looked like an old Costco or something.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. You also have Barnes Nobles down there and Marcus you do as well kind of in the central Puget Sound area. But down here are Barnes Nobles and the South Sound does not carry physical media when it comes to DVDs and Blu-rays.
Speaker 2:So if you're in the Tacoma area you of have to participate with with this sale online only, but you guys both have the benefits of actually going in store to see what's available near you yeah, the, the grove has a barnes and noble uh, which is like a shopping center near, near my place and, um, I, I, I, I, I went in there, gosh, I think in May, sometime in May, but they've got like a whole wall of criterion and then they've got a whole like four walls enclosed of just like Blu-rays and DVDs. So physical media is still still well and alive here.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I went with two blind buys this sell or the sale and I'm excited because they've both been on my list forever. I've never seen the new world, the Terrence Mollick film about, you know, john Smith and and Pocahontas, and so excited to check that movie out, really excited. And then quite Dan, quite Don. It's a 1964 japanese film that's kind of like an anthology horror story, ghost story, mystery, um, that I usually see a lot of people log around halloween time. So I'm excited for both of those to arrive here in the next couple of days.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, other than that, marcus, seattle Film Society, anything else that you got in the works this summer, now's your time to plug away.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So I mean, the big thing with Seattle Film Society is that we are looking for new board members now. We are looking for someone to join our board as an education director. We are also looking for someone to join our board as a treasurer. We're looking to kind of build out our education infrastructure and our grants application infrastructure and we've got some big things in the works that I can't quite talk about yet, but we're openly there's an open call for those positions. Our big thing is that, you know, when we started this, none of us had any experience kind of running an organization like this, and that's we're extending that to the application process no experience required. If you're passionate about filmmaking in the Seattle area, we would love to hear from you. We are really trying to build the future of filmmaking in Seattle, and so that's probably our biggest thing.
Speaker 3:And then in July we have a couple of screening events that we have launched really over the past year. We have our Truth to Fiction, that's a monthly documentary screening, and this month we're doing a free screening of the film Carts of Darkness, which is about a group of unhoused people who have taken on bottle collecting and shopping cart racing as kind of a hobby. So that's going to be taking place on the July 10th at the Northwest Film Forum and then on July 17th we're going to be doing our In Focus Director Showcase on Tommy Heffernan. He's a comedy filmmaker. He's primarily made like 48-hour films films and we're going to be screening six of his shorts. They are so funny. Um, I cry laughing watching his films and uh, it's all. It's going to be a great time and we we definitely would encourage people to uh, to come on out and you know come say, hey, I'll be at both of them.
Speaker 1:So so yeah, we've had. We've had Tommy on the pod before. Tommy's a good guy.
Speaker 3:Tommy's great. Yeah, I love Tommy, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then tell people more about how they can participate in, like the monthly discord film study sessions that you guys have as well, because as someone who now has two months ahead of me with nothing to do, I'm looking at, you know, possibly jumping in on one of those so kind of explain that side of the film society yeah, yeah, so on, we have our discord, um, and on our discord we hold a a weekly film discussion series, um, kind of kind of like a book club sort of thing, where you watch the film and then you show up and talk about it.
Speaker 3:It's every every Wednesday from 7pm to 8.30 on our Discord channel. And this July we're going to be covering the evolution of Superman. So we're going to be doing five different portrayals of Superman, starting with 1978 Superman, then Superman Returns, then the animated film, superman vs the Elite, then we'll be doing man of Steel, the elite. Uh. Then we'll be doing, uh, man of steel. And then finally we'll be doing, uh, the new superman movie, the james gunn directed one, and that one will be a field trip to a movie theater where we'll all watch the film and then we'll all hang out and talk about it afterwards. Um, but that's, that's our weekly film discussion series, and every month we pick a new theme or a new director and we, we hang out and talk about it. It's a great way to learn about films, it's a great way to learn about filmmaking and kind of, uh, it's, it's honestly just a great way to chat and meet new friends as well.
Speaker 2:So it's like a podcast without hitting record.
Speaker 3:Exactly, exactly yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a great way to put it All right. That's awesome. Well, that'll do it for our conversation on F1 today. Marcus, as always, thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy schedule to sit down and chat movies with us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you, marcus.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thank you. I miss you guys both so much being down here in LA and it's so good to to be on the screen and see your, your, your faces.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't think about you at all.
Speaker 2:Mac and listeners go to so much.
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:Go to Seattle film society events. They're amazing, they're they.
Speaker 3:you know, know, I was going to all the events, or as many as I could, while I was up there, um and uh, yeah, yeah, please go check them out absolutely, yeah, max, we we definitely miss having you at the events, and you know, uh, but it's good to be able to chat with you here and, uh, you know I love listening to the pod still, because it makes me feel like you're still new.
Speaker 1:I thought you were about to hit him with. We definitely miss you at the events and we miss Kaylee more.
Speaker 3:I mean we do miss Kaylee. Let me tell you that we do miss Kaylee.
Speaker 1:All right. So as for what's next, here on the pod, we have another major blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth. That will be 4th of July weekend. I mean, we have an accomplished director, a strong cast. I think there's reason to be excited for this one. Marcus, I'll just kind of kick it to you one last time. Are you looking forward to this movie?
Speaker 3:Uh, you know, I I'm always cautiously optimistic for the Jurassic world movies. I mean, I think that, um, world movies, I mean smart, I think that, um, I I think, like, as a franchise goes on, I I'm always more inclined to like, uh, I want them to get weirder as they go along. And I think, like jurassic world has kind of ridden that line where sometimes it it's fun weird, sometimes it's bad, weird. And I I'm curious to see which one this one is. I mean.
Speaker 1:Mean they've gone as weird as dinosaur slavery, so I don't think we can get any weirder yeah.
Speaker 3:I did. I mean, I like, uh, what's the? The second one in the last trilogy where they're like you know, they're stuck in a house with a bunch of dinosaurs. That's great, I love that.
Speaker 2:Uh, I, I, I think it's going to be good. I think the first movie in each of these trilogies or at least in the last two trilogies, right, jurassic Park, jurassic World those first movies are usually pretty good, even though this is still called Jurassic World. It's the start of a new trilogy, so I don't know.
Speaker 1:I have hopes. You know, just going back to physical media, I hate what this does for prolonging the, the purchase of a box set. You know, like you think that a franchise is done and you can finally pull the trigger on like a nice blu-ray box set, and then they make more. You know, like it's just, it kills me, it really hurts, um, cause I want all these movies on physical and I don't have any of them on Blu-ray, even the original Jurassic park, cause I'm just you know, you gotta wait annoying, but again I'm. I'm also looking forward to this, I think, with Mahershala Ali, with Scarlett Johansson. I think we're in good hands too, with Evans as the director, so excited for it, excited for that episode next week. Until then, please follow Excuse the Intermission on Instagram and Seattle Film Society on Instagram, marcus on his socials, if you can find him, the three of us on Letterboxd to keep track of what we're watching between shows, and we'll talk to you next time on eti, where movies still matter. Thank you.
